Press Category: On the Wire

BALTIMORE, Md. — March 3, 2026 — Michigan’s Ecorse Public Schools (EPS) today announced the renewal of its multiyear partnership with Concentric Educational Solutions to continue a districtwide initiative aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism. The collaboration implements an innovative, human-centered service model designed to engage students and families while addressing the academic, social, emotional, and environmental factors that contribute to persistent student absences.

EPS is a diverse, 5-site school system serving approximately 1,300 preK–12 students in the Metro Detroit area. In 2019, the Ecorse Community High School reported a chronic absence rate of 72.1%, which ranked among the highest in Michigan. To confront the challenge of chronic absenteeism across the district, EPS sought a partner that could quickly scale a non-punitive, human-centered effort to reengage students in learning that combined relationship-driven outreach with data-driven solutions including attendance support, home visits, MTSS interventions, and required filings. Following a review of potential solutions, EPS selected Concentric Educational Solutions to support its efforts to combat chronic absenteeism. 

Concentric partners with school systems nationwide to combat the urgent issue of chronic absenteeism. Concentric’s human-centered approach leverages trained members of the community to gather real-time insights from students and families that help school systems respond to student absences earlier, align resources, and address the factors driving disengagement. Among services Concentric provides are:

• Home visits by trained, community-based teams to enrolled Ecorse Public Schools students identified as chronically absent or not attending school

• Engagement with families through collaborative discussions to identify barriers to attendance

• Custom ethnographic research from noted scholar and Howard University Professor Dr. Ivory Toldson interpreting the data collected during family engagements and outlining how and why chronically absent students have disengaged from learning

• Collaboration with EPS administrators that turns research into intervention and remediation strategies for the students and families engaged during home visits

“I can run an attendance report, but a report won’t knock on a door or conduct an MTSS visit,” said Ecorse Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Josha Talison. “Someone has to meet with students and families, understand why they aren’t in class, and return with a plan. Concentric has given our team the capacity to carry out this challenging, time-intensive, but essential work. By working together, we are bringing students back to the classroom, reengaging them in learning, and reconnecting them to opportunity. Ecorse Public Schools is pleased to renew this important partnership and looks forward to continuing this critical work.”

Chronic absenteeism, defined by the U.S. Department of Education as missing 10% or more of school days, emerged as a serious challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Enterprise Institute’s Return 2 Learn Tracker, chronic absenteeism surged nationwide from 15% before COVID-19 to 28% in 2022 and remains elevated at 24% in 2024.

“Concentric Educational Solutions is proud to work alongside Ecorse Public Schools on their efforts to fight chronic absenteeism,” said Concentric Educational Solutions CEO Molly Hebert Loyd. “Dr. Talison and his talented team are deeply committed to helping every chronically absent student return to school and re-engage in learning, and we are honored that they have trusted Concentric to support their efforts. We look forward to the next phase of this powerful partnership.”

To learn more about Concentric Educational Solutions’ approach to combating chronic absenteeism, visit the company’s website, follow the organization on X, or connect on LinkedIn.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 25, 2026 — ClassDojo, the platform connecting teachers, students, and families in 95% of U.S. schools, today announced ClassDojo Payments: a comprehensive embedded payment solution. Launching in late 2026, ClassDojo Payments enables schools to collect field trip fees, manage fundraisers, process technology fees, and accept payments from every family, all on the platform that tens of millions of school leaders, teachers, and parents already use daily.

Powered by Pay Theory’s payment facilitation infrastructure, ClassDojo Payments eliminates the friction of offline payment collections and disconnected third-party portals while ensuring every family can participate—including through cash-to-digital acceptance at thousands of retail locations nationwide.

One Platform, Deep Engagement

For years, school districts have had to manage separate vendors for classroom communication, mass notifications, websites, and payments—each with its own contract, login, and learning curve. The result is administrative burden, compliance risk, and a fragmented experience for families.

Payments are often the worst offender: many districts still rely on paper forms, cash envelopes, and disconnected portals, creating barriers for the families who can least afford them. By embedding payments directly into the platform that already serves as the existing trusted daily connection point between home and school, ClassDojo eliminates the need for districts to bolt on yet another vendor and solves the engagement gap that has plagued school business offices. Communication, engagement, and financial operations now live in one place.

Enabling Digital Payments for Every Family

One in six U.S. households is unbanked or underbanked, meaning millions of families are routinely excluded from school activities that require digital payment. ClassDojo Payments addresses this directly: parents generate a barcode in the ClassDojo app and pay in cash at participating retail locations, including CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Family Dollar. Funds are credited to the school account directly, with no physical cash handling required—ensuring no family is left out.

“No student should miss a field trip because their family doesn’t have a credit card,” said Brad Hoeweler, CEO of Pay Theory. “Schools need payments that work for every family, not just the ones with bank accounts. That’s why we’re proud to power ClassDojo Payments. Together, we’re bringing inclusive financial infrastructure to K–12 so districts spend less time on transactions and more time on teaching and learning.”

Trusted for District-Scale Operations

ClassDojo Payments builds on the trust school administrators and district leaders have in ClassDojo by providing real-time visibility into payment status across every school in the district. The platform handles everything from one-time field trip payments to recurring PTO dues, with built-in compliance for PCI-DSS Level 1 security standards, FERPA, and COPPA requirements.

“District leaders have been telling us for years: give us one system,” said Jeff Buening, General Manager, ClassDojo. “With ClassDojo Payments, a superintendent can see classroom communication, family engagement, and financial operations in a single view—from Mrs. Johnson’s third-grade classroom to the district office. It’s a fundamentally different but extremely efficient way to run a school system.”

ClassDojo Payments will be available to districts nationwide in late 2026. Districts interested can contact their ClassDojo representative or visit classdojo.com/districts.

About ClassDojo

ClassDojo is on a mission to give every child on earth an education they love. ClassDojo connects over 50 million families globally, bringing teachers, children, and families together every day. ClassDojo for Districts is a unified communication, engagement, and operations platform that brings classroom updates, districtwide messaging, and now payment processing into one seamless experience—helping families stay connected, students stay engaged, and school operations run smoothly. The platform is built with privacy at its core and designed to serve the entire school community.

About Pay Theory

Pay Theory is payments and money movement infrastructure purpose-built for Essential industry verticals like, Education, Healthcare, Senior and Child Care, Government, and Donations/NonProfit. We believe that simple, beautiful financial solutions can improve access to these vital services for all families. The company provides secure, compliant payment processing and money movement capabilities, including unique cash-to-digital acceptance through retail partners nationwide. Pay Theory maintains PCI-DSS Level 1 certification and SOC 2 Type II compliance, serving thousands of Essential platforms and merchants across the United States. For more information, go to https://www.paytheory.com/ 

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WHAT: Three days of no-cost live sessions for K-12 superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum and instruction leaders, principals, and literacy specialists as well as teachers and coaches interested in how strong systems support classroom practice.

WHEN: Monday, March 2 – Wednesday, March 4; 12 PM – 1PM ET

REGISTER: https://events.lexialearning.com/event/science-of-reading-week-spring-2026/

Boston – Feb. 19, 2026 – To counter the challenges of shifting mandates and increasing demands, education leaders need clear strategies for putting the science of reading into practice. This year, Lexia’s three-day “Science of Reading Week” shifts from the “why” to the “how” of implementation. Attendees will obtain practical guidance that empowers them to support teachers, strengthen fidelity, and drive measurable literacy gains.

Science of Reading Week will be moderated by Kerri Larkin, Lexia’s National Senior Education Advisor. “Attendees will hear from national experts as well as district practitioners and classroom innovators who have implemented Structured Literacy at scale and are seeing results,” Larkin said. “We’ll examine implementation at every level, from national policy to district execution to classroom instruction. And we’ll show how aligned decisions drive consistent, equitable outcomes for students.”

Each live session will take place at 12 p.m. ET.

Monday, March 2

From Policy to Practice: Driving Literacy Success Nationwide

In this session, Larkin will speak with Sarah Wilson, the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). They will also be joined by José Viana, Lexia’s national senior education advisor. The trio will discuss the ways educators across the nation are creating sustainable, system-level changes to literacy initiatives. Session attendees will receive answers and actionable guidance for designing literacy interventions that work for all students.

Tuesday, March 3

How WE Did It: Our District’s Implementation Story

Larkin, Snaeha Matthew, Lexia’s senior evaluation specialist, and Octavia Gray-Essex, Lexia’s national senior education advisor, will take a deep dive into the remarkable adolescent literacy gains at Loudon County Public Schools in Virginia. Michelle Picard, the district’s supervisor of secondary English and reading, will walk attendees through the intentional planning, data-driven decisions, and professional learning that brought evidence-based instruction to life. In addition, the four will unpack how Lexia and Loudon County Public Schools combined classroom observations with emerging AI-assisted insights to understand what would move the needle.

Wednesday, March 4

The “How” in Action: AI-Supported Structured Literacy

This session will feature Larkin as well as Lexia’s Manager of Curriculum Alex Wright, and Dr. Nicolas Cracco, the executive director for Educational Leadership and Early Learning programs at New Rochelle City Schools in New York state. Attendees will learn how Structured Literacy and intelligent technology provide actionable guidance that streamlines decision-making, maintains fidelity to proven practices, and delivers measurable literacy growth. Dr. Cracco will share a real classroom example of how these supports reduce complexity, save time, and help educators meet the needs of diverse learners—without adding to their workload.

There is no cost to attend these live sessions, but registration is required. For more information, please go to https://www.lexialearning.com/science-of-reading-week.

About Lexia

Lexia, a Cambium Learning Group brand, is transforming literacy education, driving change in 1 of every 3 school districts across the United States. For more than 40 years, Lexia has been a thought leader in literacy education, delivering award-winning, research-based solutions grounded in the science of reading. With a full spectrum of offerings, including professional learning, curriculum, and embedded assessment tools, Lexia provides educators with Structured Literacy solutions that are proven effective and designed to drive meaningful literacy outcomes. By empowering educators with unparalleled ease of use and the knowledge and tools they need, Lexia helps more students unlock their potential to read, write, and speak with confidence. For more information, visit lexialearning.com. 

About Cambium Learning Group

Cambium Learning Group is the education essentials company, providing award-winning education technology and services for K-12 educators and students. With an intentional collection of respected global brands, Cambium serves as a leader, helping millions of educators and students feel more seen, valued, and supported every day. In everything it does, the company focuses on the elements that are most essential to the success of education, delivering simpler, more certain solutions that make a meaningful difference right now. To learn more, visit www.cambiumlearning.com or follow Cambium on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. The Cambium family of brands includes: Cambium Assessment, Lexia, Learning A-Z, ExploreLearning, and Time4Learning.

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Media Contacts

Sabrina Leon, Lexia PR Manager

sabrina.leon@lexialearning.com

Charlotte Andrist, Nickel Communications

charlotte@nickelcommpr.com

Media Inquiries Only: 770-310-5244

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Portland, ME — Feb. 18, 2026 — BW Walch, a leading provider of evidence-based math professional learning and instructional solutions, today announced that Sean Lockwood has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Al Noyes, who has served as CEO, will continue as Chairman of the Board, partnering closely with Lockwood to accelerate the company’s next phase of growth and deepen its impact in schools and districts nationwide.

As districts nationwide work to strengthen math achievement and address unfinished learning, many are prioritizing coherent systems that align curriculum, professional learning, and assessment. Demand continues to grow for research-backed solutions that deliver measurable outcomes. BW Walch supports this work with high-quality curriculum and professional learning designed to empower teachers and help them implement mathematics instruction with clarity, consistency, and confidence.

The company is known for its customizable high school math curriculum, powered by its proprietary Curriculum Engine, and OGAP (Ongoing Assessment Project) professional learning — the only K–5 math professional development system to earn an ESSA Tier I: Strong Evidence rating.

“Sean is a proven, mission-driven leader with deep experience scaling education organizations while maintaining educational integrity and operational discipline,” said Al Noyes, Chairman of BW Walch. “On behalf of the Board, I’m confident in his ability to guide BW Walch through its next phase of growth. At a time when districts are seeking practical, evidence-based approaches to improving math outcomes, his ability to align vision with execution and drive sustainable impact makes him the right leader for this moment.”

Lockwood brings more than 20 years of experience leading and growing education and professional services organizations. Throughout his career, he has built high-performing teams, strengthened operational foundations, expanded market reach, and guided organizations through periods of strategic transformation — always with a focus on supporting educators and improving student outcomes.

Under his leadership, BW Walch will continue expanding access to its evidence-based math solutions while investing in innovation, service, and strategic partnerships that help districts implement with fidelity and achieve lasting impact.

“I’m honored to join BW Walch at such a pivotal time for mathematics education,” said Sean Lockwood, CEO of BW Walch. “Across the country, educators are working hard to improve student achievement and build stronger systems of support for math instruction. BW Walch is uniquely positioned to help districts meet this moment with research-based solutions that drive meaningful results. I’m excited to build on the company’s strong foundation and expand its reach and impact nationwide.”

About BW Walch

BW Walch is a leading provider of innovative math solutions, including OGAP professional learning and aligned, customized math curriculums that empower teachers and students to achieve success. With a strong foundation in evidence-based practice and deep expertise in mathematics education, BW Walch supports schools and districts nationwide in building sustainable improvement in teaching and learning. For more information, contact customerservice@bwwalch.com

About OGAP

The Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP) is a systematic and intentional professional learning program that equips teachers with expertise in both math content and pedagogy. By helping educators use student work as evidence to diagnose misconceptions and guide instruction, OGAP empowers schools to strengthen reasoning and accelerate learning across additive, multiplicative, fractional, and proportional reasoning. OGAP has earned an ESSA Tier I: Strong Evidence rating and is recognized nationally for improving mathematics achievement. For more information on OGAP professional learning, visit www.ogapmathllc.com

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OAKLAND, Calif. — The Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF), a national nonprofit focused on addressing pressing education challenges, today announced new innovations and learnings from its EF+Math program, a five-year research and development initiative focused on transforming mathematics education. Key highlights of the investment include scaled and commercialized products that are actively used in schools today, new professional development resources for educators, tools for conducting inclusive R&D, and scientific research findings that have advanced the field’s understanding of how students learn math. Today, AERDF is launching a new, public EF+Math Resource Library, a comprehensive collection of products, tools, research findings, and frameworks emerging from the collective effort of more than 700 educators, researchers, and developers.

The announcement comes as executive functioning (EF) skills – including working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and metacognition – are increasingly recognized as critical to helping K–12 students tackle rigorous math concepts. In fact, 88% of teachers report wanting sustained, actionable professional development on EF skills to better support students in learning challenging math concepts.

AERDF’s new EF+Math Resource Library showcases the impact of AERDF’s approach to education R&D. It includes evidence-based math products; insights and tools for educators, researchers, and developers to support students in leveraging their EF skills in math; and research findings for others to use to improve math education. The comprehensive public repository ensures that the innovations developed and the knowledge generated through the EF+Math program continue to have an impact long into the future.

The EF+Math program was created to examine whether strengthening students’ executive functioning skills, skills that help students manage their thoughts, emotions, attention, and behavior, could dramatically improve student math outcomes. It is the first R&D program that AERDF invested in, and it will be completing its five-year funding cycle this spring.

“The EF+Math program was designed from the start to create a lasting impact beyond its planned five-year funding cycle.” said Auditi Chakravarty, AERDF CEO. “EF+Math developed research publications that provide blueprints for the field, a research community advancing these ideas, and methodologies so others can build upon this foundation. The EF+Math Resource Library is a dynamic hub that ensures the program’s evidence, tools, and equity-centered practices will continue to guide innovation and reach math classrooms across the country.”

The program brought together educators, researchers, and developers to simultaneously create evidence-based math learning products and to deepen the field’s understanding of the relationship between students’ EF skills and math learning.

“We believe that all students, and especially Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty, bring mathematical brilliance to the classroom and are capable of learning challenging math,” said Michelle Tiu, Co-Executive Director of AERDF’s EF+Math Program. “EF+Math’s goal was to dramatically improve math outcomes by strengthening executive function skills and creating equitable math learning experiences for students in grades 3-8.”

Throughout the process, educators’ and students’ voices were centered, allowing real-world classrooms to shape the work.

“This inclusive, coordinated approach to R&D made this program more effective,” said Aubrey Francisco, Co-Executive Director of AERDF’s EF+Math Program. “Often, solutions are developed based on assumptions about what teachers and students need. At EF+Math, we intentionally brought together educators, researchers, and developers to co-create tools grounded in both classroom wisdom and learning science. That collaboration resulted in both products that are supporting students’ EF and math learning in classrooms, and new insights that can guide future R&D.” 

Highlights from AERDF’s EF+Math program include:

• New Math Learning Products that integrate EF skill development with mathematics instruction, affirm student identities, and deliver measurable learning improvements. New products have been supported by the R&D investment, such as CueThinkEF+, a problem-solving program that has been acquired and scaled commercially; Fraction Ball, a basketball-inspired game to help students learn fractions; and MIND Education’s MathFluency+ and InsightMath, a novel approach and core curriculum designed to maximize student’s cognitive capacity for math learning.
• New Research Insights & Tools, including peer-reviewed studies, culturally responsive assessment measures, and research instruments that deepen scientific understanding of how EF skills, equity, and math learning intersect.
• New Framework and Toolkit for Conducting Inclusive R&D that includes lessons learned from the EF+Math Community’s approach to centering educator and student voices, practical tools for conducting inclusive R&D, and candid reflections on building collaborative research teams.
• New Professional Learning for Educators offering flexible resources for teachers and coaches to implement equitable, evidence-based math instruction. These ready-to-use professional development modules will help teachers support students in leveraging their EF skills to learn math. 
• EF+Math Community Stories featuring the voices of educators, researchers, students, and partners who co-created this work and are now carrying it forward.

Learn more: The program’s new website with resources for researchers, educators, and developers on EF skills and math education is available at: efmathprogram.org.

Join our webinar: AERDF will host an EF+Math webinar, “Collective Learning, Lasting Impact: The EF+Math Resource Library,” on March 3 at 1 p.m. PT to share highlights of the work, findings, and resources on EF skills and math education. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/efmath-resource-library-launch-webinar-tickets-1981873153954

About AERDF

Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF, sounds like air-diff) is a national nonprofit that harnesses the power of education research and development (R&D) to unlock scientific discoveries and deliver research-backed inventions to address the most pressing challenges in teaching and learning. AERDF’s R&D programs (multi-year initiatives) – EF+Math, Assessment for Good, Reading Reimagined, and AugmentED – produce scientific knowledge, technical advancements, and scalable, classroom-ready prototypes that are evidence-based, demonstrate impact, and catalyze transformative improvements across our nation. AERDF’s AdvancED Fellowship accelerates visionary leaders and their ideas with a unique experience to dare to dream about how to advance the state of the art in education. Learn more at https://aerdf.org. 

SOURCE Advanced Education Research & Development Fund

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SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 11, 2026 — ClassDojo, the leading communication and engagement platform used in 95% of U.S. schools, today announced a new partnership with Canva Education, the world’s most popular visual communication platform. The integration helps schools move beyond text-heavy updates to share more engaging stories with families. In fact, visual posts see up to 60% more engagement, helping districts cut through the noise and ensure their messages land with families.

With the new integration, district communications leaders, principals, and teachers can create content in Canva and instantly share it on ClassDojo, without managing multiple tools or workflows. The result is faster, more consistent, and more engaging school communication that families actually notice, understand, and trust—across every school in the district.

“District communications teams need to move fast and deliver clear, engaging messages to families across every school,” said Dr. Chad A. Steven, Head of Growth and Partnerships at ClassDojo. “By embedding Canva into ClassDojo, districts gain powerful visual storytelling tools in the platform they already trust, without adding complexity for teachers or administrators.”

“Our teachers use Canva Education, and our families rely on ClassDojo—so bringing the two together makes it easier to share school updates in ways families truly engage with,” said Emily Reynolds, Chief Information Technology Officer, Pittsylvania County Schools. “This integration helps educators communicate faster and more consistently, while allowing our district to tell our story through clear, inclusive visuals that reflect daily learning across our schools.”

Designed for Teachers, Built for District Communication at Scale

The initial phase of the integration is designed around educator workflows, making it easy for teachers, principals, and district leaders to create and share visual updates without changing how they work. Users can authenticate Canva within ClassDojo, access their existing design library, and publish visual content directly to classroom or school Stories in just a few clicks.

What’s simple for teachers delivers powerful benefits for districts, enabling more consistent, engaging communication across every school, without adding new tools or training burdens.

District leaders benefit from:

• Reduced training and onboarding by leveraging tools educators already use every day
• More engaging, visually rich updates that cut through information overload
• A unified communication experience that strengthens family engagement at scale
• Greater consistency and quality across district, school, and classroom messaging—reinforcing a clear, trusted voice

Future enhancements planned for later this year will expand the integration’s impact even further, including new ways for districts to create visually compelling newsletters and community-wide updates, all from a single platform.

Shifting School Communication from Updates to Stories

As districts face growing communication demands and shrinking attention spans, how schools communicate matters as much as what they share. This partnership reflects a clear shift away from text-heavy updates toward visual storytelling that builds trust, transparency, and a shared sense of community across schools—while remaining accessible and inclusive for today’s diverse families.

“Canva Education and ClassDojo share a belief that communication should be simple, joyful, and inclusive. This partnership brings together two tools educators already love and unlocks a new way for schools and districts to share their story—beautifully and at scale,” said Andy Shaw, North America K-12 School Engagement Lead, Canva Education. “By combining Canva’s design capabilities with ClassDojo’s trusted school-home engagement platform, the integration helps schools move beyond text-heavy messages and static PDFs/attachments to create dynamic stories that better reflect daily learning and school culture.”

Availability

The Canva integration is available today to all ClassDojo users at no cost, allowing teachers and staff to improve the quality of district and classroom communications without expanding their tool stack or budget.

To learn more, visit: https://essential.classdojo.com/canva-partnership/

About ClassDojo

ClassDojo is on a mission to give every child an education they love. Used in 95% of U.S. schools, ClassDojo helps teachers and families build stronger school communities through everyday communication. ClassDojo for Districts is a unified communication and engagement platform that brings everyday classroom updates and districtwide messaging into one seamless experience—helping families feel connected, students stay engaged, and school culture grows stronger. It’s built with privacy at its core and available to districts at no additional cost.

About Canva Education

Canva is a global visual communication platform used by more than 260 million people each month to create, collaborate, and communicate visually. With Canva Education, teachers and students in eligible K–12 schools get free access to premium design tools, templates, and classroom-ready resources – helping make learning more engaging, accessible, and creative. Built with privacy and safety at its core, Canva is trusted by educators and school systems around the world to support clear communication, inclusive learning, and everyday creativity at scale.

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